Kickboxing career

His father, Curtis Page Sr. was his instructor.[18][20] Of his nine siblings, his sister Sefena and brothers Curtis Jr., Jamie, and Kalon are also kickboxing champions.[5][21][22]

Page began training in Lau Gar at the age of 3 and competed at his first kickboxing tournament at the age of 5.[23][24][25]By the age of 8, he began to devote himself to competition and entered his first international tournament in Germany.[13][26]

Page won 10 world championships in kickboxing – his first was at the US Open ISKA World Martial Arts Championships 1998[27] in Orlando, Florida[13] when he was 12 years old[28] – and was crowned British champion over 25 times.[4] By the age of 13, Page started entering adult competitions.[13][19][29] To prepare, he would train five hours a day for five days a week.[30] During tournament days he would often fight up to 14 times due to competing in three weight classes, and at one point fought 22 times in a day across five weight classes.[31] Another world title win was at the W.A.K.O. World Championships 2007 (Coimbra) where, at the −89 kg semi-contact division, he won gold after defeating Dave Heffernan.[32][33] He also competed at the W.A.K.O. Austrian Classics Worldcup 2008 (Kufstein), winning gold in the −84 kg semi-contact division over Krisztián Jároszkievicz.[34][35] Page participated at the W.A.K.O. Irish Open 2008 (Dublin), earning silver in the −84 kg semi-contact division after falling short to Raymond Daniels.[36] Page then won gold at the W.A.K.O. Austrian Classics Worldcup 2009 (Walchsee), placing first in both the −84 kg light-contact and semi-contact divisions, defeating Bojan Miskovic and Zvonimir Gribl respectively.[37][38] Page returned to participate in the W.A.K.O. Irish Open 2009 (Dublin) but was defeated by Raymond Daniels, placing second in the −84 kg semi-contact division.[39] Page – appointed as the WKA Head Coach[40] – led a team to the WKA World Championships 2009 (Huelva), defeating James Benjamin Stewart to claim gold in the organisation’s first semi-contact prize competition[41] and bronze in the −90 kg light-contact division, upon being bested by Tarek Haydar.[2][3] He then participated in the W.A.K.O. World Championships 2009 (Lignano Sabbiadoro) and finished second in the −84 kg semi-contact division, after being defeated by Krisztián Jároszkievicz.[42] On 4 September 2010, he competed at the World Combat Games 2010 (Beijing) in the −84 kg semi-contact division, where he earned silver, losing gold to Krisztián Jároszkievicz.[43][44] Page fought Raymond Daniels at the W.A.K.O. Irish Open 2011 (Dublin), securing silver in the −84 kg semi-contact division.[8]

Page was scouted by the Great Britain Taekwondo team to train and qualify for the Olympics but turned it down to pursue a professional combat sports career.[45]

When not competing Page trains others in kickboxing, primarily as an instructor at the Hands Down Martial Arts Academies throughout Surrey.[46]

UCMMA

Page made his MMA debut at UCMMA 26 against Ben Dishman on 4 February 2012 and won via technical knockout from a first round tornado kick.[76] His original opponent Sam Boo withdrew a week before the fight.[77][78] The fight went viraland comparisons were drawn between Page and Anderson Silva.[79][80][81] He was paid £200 for the bout.[82]

On 7 April 2012, Page faced Miguel Bernard at UCMMA 27 in a 176 lb catchweight bout despite weighing in at 165 lb.[83]Page won in the first round after forcing Bernard to tap out upon transitioning from a triangle choke into an armbar.[84]

Page briefly returned to kickboxing when he fought in a UK-1 bout on 18 August 2012 at UCMMA 29. Page was supposed to challenge UCMMA UK-1 welterweight champion Peter Irving for the belt.[85][86] However, Irving pulled out of the fight due to a neck injury[12] and was replaced by Jefferson George after another three opponents dropped out within a month for undisclosed reasons.[87][88] Page won after knocking out George from a two punch combination in the second round.[89]

Super Fight League

On 24 June 2012, Super Fight League announced that they signed Michael Page[90] to an exclusive year and a half, four-fight contract.[91]

Page made his promotional debut on 2 November 2012 at SFL 7 as the main event against Haitham El-Sayed, winning by technical knockout in round one via doctor stoppage due to cuts.[92]

Page returned to Super Fight League on 12 April 2013 to face Ramdan Mohamed at SFL 15 as the main event and won via rear-naked choke in the first round.[93]

Bellator MMA

After winning his UK-1 fight against Jefferson George, Page announced post-fight that he signed a five-fight contract with Bellator MMA, and that he will fight for both Bellator and Super Fight League under their respective contracts.[94][95]

Page was expected to make his promotional debut at Bellator 82 but pulled out of the bout citing surgery for an old jaw injury.[96][97][98] Another potential yet unannounced debut at Bellator 90 against Sean Powers was cancelled for undisclosed reasons.[99]

Page made his debut on 21 March 2013 at Bellator 93.[100] He faced Ryan Sanders and won via knockout at 10 seconds into the first round.[101]

Page was scheduled to fight Kenny Ento at Bellator 102[102] but withdrew due to a rib cartilage injury,[103][104] an ankle injury,[105] and a knee injury.[106] A later appearance slated for Bellator 109 against Andrew Osborne was also cancelled because of lingering injuries.[107]

Page fought Charlie Ontiveros at Bellator 144 on 23 October 2015 with less than three weeks’ notice after four opponents – including his initial opponent Marius Žaromskis[121] and later Cristiano Souza[122] – pulled out of the fight for undisclosed reasons.[123] Page won via verbal submission due to elbows in the first round after dislocating Ontiveros’ jaw.[124][125][126]

He was expected to fight Fernando Gonzalez at Bellator 151 as the co-main event[127] but withdrew from the bout as he was already committed to officiate at the W.A.K.O. Irish Open 2016 (Dublin)[128] as coach of the Top Ten UK team.[129] He was replaced by Gilbert Smith.[130]

In July 2016, Bellator claimed that Page re-signed[142] with the promotion and had four fights left on his contract.[143] However, Page stated that he did not re-sign but had two fights left from existing contractual provisions.[144]

On 30 July 2018, Page confirmed signing a new six-fight contract with Bellator, three for the tournament and three as part of the champion clause.[164] The contract will let him box, subject to Bellator’s approval.[165]